In a neverending quest for grass and water, the striped herds undertake an annual epic trek across the vast lunar landscape of the Kalahari’s Makgadikgadi Pans. Most of the year, the Makgadikgadi is an inhospitable wasteland of windswept, saltencrusted pans. For the area’s waterdependent zebra, the Boteti River on the western edge of the pans is a dryseason lifeline. However, it is also a death trap, with lions waiting in ambush and crocodiles lurking in dark riverside caves.